NASA TV will webcast two programs today about the upcoming touch down of the Insight lander on Mars: NASA Live: InSight Mars Landing | NASA
NASA’s InSight lander is scheduled to touch down on Mars at approximately 3 p.m. EST, Monday, Nov. 26. NASA TV live coverage of the InSight Mars landing will begin at 2 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. UTC). Upcoming briefings:
Wednesday, Nov. 21, 1 p.m. EST: InSight Mars Lander news conference: Mission engineering overview.
Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2 p.m. EST: InSight Mars Lander news conference: Mission science overview
It will take about 8 minutes for signals from Insight to reach earth during its descent through the atmosphere and the touch down on the surface. Here’s an item about the communications systems that allow for ground controllers to know what happened : How NASA Will Know When InSight Touches Down – NASA JPL
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The Mars 2020 Rover, which is similar in design and capabilities to the Curiosity rover, now knows where it will land: NASA Announces Landing Site for Mars 2020 Rover – NASA JPL
Speaking of Curiosity, here is a recent update on its activities: Curiosity on the Move Again | NASA.
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Bob Zimmerman examines an image taken of the Martian surface and highlights what is similar and different between geologic processes on Mars versus on the Earth: The soft landslides of Mars | Behind The Black
The light gravity of Mars, combined with different materials, a lot of dust, and a geological history different from Earth, produces events that — though reminiscent of similar geological events on Earth — are definitely not the same.
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